Four and a half years of my life was spent in Mexico. I became the “la guerra” “la gringa” and when I was dressed up in my early 70’s American hippie attire “la Dona Maria”(more on that later). While traveling different parts of the country, I became fascinated with the regional and traditional dress of the people.  Most of the outfits were painstakingly handmade and embroidered. Of course a lot of the styles were mass produced and machine embroidered for the tourists, but you could still find the real deal.

I remember my girls  dressing up proudly in their cherished Mexican outfits. Most were gifts from their dear abuelitos. Today my grandchildren sometimes come across a traditional Mexican garb in their vintage hunts with my oldest daughter.

In today’s paper, the business section, an article jumped out at me. “The Mexican Dress” A seamstress and entrepreneur, figured out how to make the peasant dress and is selling her pattern online through her website. I just had to check it out. It is a very charming website. The layout is informative and fun. It makes me want to order that pattern and begin a long winter project of embroidering a special dress for a special someone, except I have so many special someones!